COLUMBUS, Ind. — Like mother, like son, Bartholomew County’s first baby of 2023 is carrying on a family tradition.
River Nashtyn-Michael O’Brien was born at 12:30 a.m. Jan. 1 to mother Erica O’Brien and father Kyle O’Brien, according to Columbus Regional Hospital.
“I find it so cool that River and I get to share one of the coolest facts about each other,” said his mom, Erica O’Brien. “I was the new year’s baby in 1995 for Decatur County.”
Erica said she was born at Decatur County Memorial Hospital in Greensburg on Jan. 6 of that year, the next-door county’s first. “I should have bought a lottery ticket,” she joked.
River came into the world ahead of schedule, Erica explained. She said her son had been due on Jan. 22, but because of some complications with her pregnancy, the medical team had scheduled a Caesarean section delivery for Jan. 3.
“They weren’t going to schedule a C-section (for New Year’s Day),” Erica said. But River had other ideas. “He decided to come on that day anyway.”
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
